The Rivera Family Is No Stranger to the Spotlight

The undisputed Queen of Banda, Jenni Rivera, reigned the airwaves from the 1990s until her untimely death in 2012. Known for hits like “Inolvidable,” “Basta Ya,” and “La Gran Señora,” Jenni was one of the first women to sing in the genre of "narcocorridos" and was the single most successful woman artist on the Billboard Latin charts at the time of her death.

But while many are familiar with Jenni’s music, fans may be wondering about the singer’s complicated personal life, specifically about her early years growing up in California with three siblings. Keep scrolling to find out all you need to know about La Diva de la Banda’s siblings in order of age. 

Growing up in Long Beach, Calif., Jenni (real name: Dolores Janney "Jenni" Rivera Saavedra) was immersed in the Mexican music scene from an early age. The family was extremely close and Jenni’s parents introduced all their children to traditional Mexican music, including the genres of banda, norteña, and ranchera. 

This helped all the Rivera children develop a musical ear and appreciation for those styles of music.

The early musical immersion paid off for the Rivera family, as nearly all the siblings went into the music business when they were older. Although none of Jenni’s other siblings reached the levels of fame and success that she did, they all are established, famous musicians in the Latin music scene.

Oldest brother Juan Rivera was already a toddler when his mother Rosa became pregnant with Jenni in 1968. At the time, the family still lived in Mexico but decided to move to the United States while Juan was a little boy and Rosa was still pregnant. Jenni was subsequently born in 1969 in Culver City, Los Angeles.

Today, Juan is a successful singer and actor. He’s had a number of hits, including “El Ser Equivocado” and “La Lampara,” which have ranked at the Top 50 of the Billboard Latin charts. Not a lot is known about Juan’s personal life as he is the most fiercely private of all the Rivera clan, but his musical and acting career is well-documented.

Juan’s musical career began at the age of 16 when he made his debut with the release of his first record, "El Atizador," in 1996. Juan is also an actor and has appeared in movies like 2001’s action-thriller, Jefe de Nadie and in 1994’s La dinastía de Los Pérez. 

After Jenni came younger brother Guadalupe Rivera Saavedra, born January 31, 1972. Better known by his stage name, Lupillo Rivera, Lupillo is also a successful singer-songwriter, although he grew up dreaming to become a restauranteur. 

Lupillo’s father Pedro put him to work in Pedro's recording studio, and soon he was scouting talent for Pedro’s studio at local bars. Eventually, Lupillo himself got behind the microphone and he began to sing under his own name. 

Lupillo has had considerable success in his career and in 2010, he was nominated for a number of Grammys and Latin Grammys. He ultimately won a Grammy award for his album "Tu Esclavo y Amo."

The youngest of the Rivera siblings is Rosa “Rosie” Amelia Rivera, born July 3, 1981. Rosie is a television personality and businesswoman who today heads Jenni Rivera Enterprises. The youngest Rivera sibling made her public debut on Jenni’s reality show, I Love Jenni, in 2013. 

Later, she and her family also began to appear on the reality show Rica, Famosa, Latina.

Rosie is also a spokesperson for victims of sexual abuse, which she suffered through at a young age. In 2016, she published My Broken Pieces: Mending the Wounds From Sexual Abuse Through Faith, Family, and Love, in which Rosie discusses the tragic, life-altering trauma she underwent and the process by which she came out on the other side of the abuse.